


The Smell of Warm Bread

by mr_bonez



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Bread, Cooking, Dissociation, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Light Angst, Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, References to Depression, Routine, Short, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28521918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mr_bonez/pseuds/mr_bonez
Summary: When Dante devolves into a state of depression while waiting for Lady Aphmau's return, he stops expecting anything good in his life. When something good does happen?He won't admit it, but...It's a pleasant surprise.
Relationships: Dante/Kawaii~Chan (Minecraft Diaries)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	The Smell of Warm Bread

Dante was really quite lonely.

His hair was messed up, sticking out in all the wrong ways with dirt settled in so far he wasn't quite sure he could get it out completely if he even cared to try. Combs? He'd never heard of them. There was an ache in his bones comparable to that of someone who'd suffered through years of a hard labor, and while that's not to say he hadn't, his ache was of a... less-physical origin. 

He barely even managed to summon up the energy to keep his guard uniform in proper shape. He had to cling to nostalgia and memories that thickened his throat as his only driving force and even then he found it hard to do more than actually put it on. Hopelessness consumed his every waking moment and the shade of the towering oaks felt familiar to the shade that seemed to dampen any positive emotion that might've slipped through the barrier his brokenness put up.

Nicole had gone, and with her his last drop of hope. 

The walls of Phoenix Drop cracked and creaked, plants piercing the stones and ice splitting apart the bricks in the depth of winter. Rot and rust crawled and Dante paid it no mind. The houses once inhabited fell into disrepair. He followed the routine he'd set into place before his thoughts disintegrated every day. He woke up early. He ate stale bread. He drank odd water. He patrolled the town. He reached the gate. He stood in place.

He waited. For years. Hopeless.

Hopeless.

Hopeless.

  
H  
o  
p  
e  
l  
e  
s  
s.

  
...Then...

She appeared.

Things didn't get better immediately, but...

The bread wasn't stale.

It was a weird thing to notice, but he'd been going for weeks, his routine broken up by Kawaii~Chan's pestering. He woke up one morning (the days had faded, he wasn't quite sure how long it had been since she'd arrived) and went to get his daily breakfast. He opened his cabinet—wooden, it wasn't there when Lady Aphmau left, but he didn't remember if he'd built it. He barely even reacted when he found that his bread was gone. Once upon a lifetime, he would've cared enough to wonder where it had gone. Now?

It was no big deal. He'd just take a bit to grab some wheat from the farm (Did Kawaii~Chan make that or did he? Had it been there since before or was it new?) and craft some bread. He'd turned, aiming to leave out the door, but he'd seen something out of the corner of his eye on his little table. For just a moment, curiosity had broken through his exhaustion spell and he'd approached it. He was glad he did. He really was.

Because on that table was a fresh loaf of bread, still warm, with a pretty little ribbon wrapped around it. Pink. No doubt Kawaii~Chan's. With a little paper slip of a note pinned gently to the ribbon. 

“Hi, Dante~Kun!

Kawaii~Chan didn't want to bother you, but she made too much bread this morning for her breakfast. She was wondering if you wanted it, but you were asleep. So, she left it for you! She hopes you enjoy!

With love,  
Kawaii~Chan”

Looking back, maybe that was the start of the change. The change for the better.

Either way, he began acting a little nicer to her.


End file.
